Memories - are they true?

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Napoleon once said “History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon”. What is present today will become history tomorrow? I didn’t get a chance to understand the meaning of this statement from a wider perspective as that of Napoleon, but I have found what it means in individual lives.

Our memories were all ‘present’ happening one day and then they are surmounted by fresh happenings. This process is spontaneous and can’t be tinkered by anyone, however mighty or diminutive. But apart from the transition nothing is sacrosanct. If you think that memories are always perfect account of what had actually happened then, I suggest, delve again.

I have always maintained that human mind is the most powerful thing in this universe. It is only a human who can mould and mend things to suit himself/herself. I have had many chances of interacting with people over a longer period of time and I am usually amazed at their memories. The would recollect things which were variant and in some cases exteremely different from what had actually happened. Initially I used to think that they were prevaricating but their conviction made me believe that it is indeed their memory. They have not forgotten what has happened, but they have shaped their memory in that way. And almost in all cases this shaping was done in a manner which suits them best or brings out the best of them.

Is this phenomenon true for everyone ? No, it isn’t. Isn’t it easier to forget something totally than to shape it differently in your memory ? Yes it is easier but there are reasons for the latter. What kind of memories are changed ones ? Rarely a memory where some one has done something commendable will be changed, it is the ulterior works which are shaped differently and stored. What is the reason for this ? There is a reason, no one when speaking to one’s conscience will speak lie or would accept that one has done something wrong. This is the only place where a person is honest, otherplace it is rarely practised. Many a times people change their memories to remember themselves as honest and all their acts justified in honest ways. It works. If a sinner tells himself/herself that nothing wrong has been commited by him/her then trust me, their memory will be shaped that way. They will never remember, hence never accept that they have done anything wrong. This could explain one reason why many times there is no redemption from proven sinners.

This changing of memory sometimes go so far as to show off. But still they refuse to accept that they have done something wrong or they are responsible for it. Of course there could be material proof and witnesses but not all times it is worth the effort to bring out the actual happening. If a person is so determined then it will hardly serve any purpose.

Whether the memory is changed, or slyly paraphrased, can never be proved. This is the harsh reality of this imperfect world where truth & honesty does not always prevail. If you extend the locus of this to cover continents and decades then this is what, I guess, Napoleon meant.

P.S – this is in no way related to something as in “The Manchurian Candidate”, that is an artwork of imagination.